How Legal Deportation Works and the Citizenship Process

“If IMMIGRANTS really wanted to stay and be upstanding members of society, they’d just get their citizenship! If they don’t they’re LAZY!!”

The number of times I’ve read a variation of this online lately is:

Having been born here, I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bit ignorant on 1) the legal routes to get here, 2) the process of becoming a citizen or obtaining legal status to stay 3) the process of being removed from this country if you don’t do either. With this post, I’m gonna fix that for myself and for you, dear reader!

Legal Entry and Becoming a Citizen

First off, let’s talk about legally getting to the US. Not gonna lie, there are like 300 different types of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to read through (see here) even without considering asylum seekers, so I’ll be focusing the asylum process and on visas most likely being utilized by our top countries of immigration.

From U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website:
“Under United States law, a refugee is someone who:

• Is located outside of the United States
• Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States
• Demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group
• Is not firmly resettled in another country
• Is admissible to the United States
• A refugee does not include anyone who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

And on Asylum status:

“Every year people come to the United States seeking protection because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution due to:

• Race
• Religion
• Nationality
• Membership in a particular social group
• Political opinion

You may only file this application if you are physically present in the United States, and you are not a U.S. citizen.“

The main difference here is the location at the time of application. Refugees come from outside, where as Asylum seekers are already here and are seeking to stay as permanent residents.

Now we’ll define Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). From the USCIS site:

“On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of 2 years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible to request work authorization. Deferred action is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status.

On Aug. 30, 2022, DHS published the DACA Final Rule, with the intent to preserve and fortify the DACA policy. This rule, which puts into effect regulations at 8 CFR 236.21-236.25, rescinds and replaces the DACA guidance set forth in the 2012 Memorandum issued by Secretary Napolitano.“

Next let’s talk about Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Immigrants from certain countries defined by TPS are allowed to live and work in the country without fear of being deported. Kristi Noem has recently attempted to remove TPS status for most TPS designated countries, but has only succeeded to do so with Somalia at this point.

Here’s what USCIS says about TPS:

“The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately. USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals of certain countries (or parts of countries), who are already in the United States. Eligible individuals without nationality who last resided in the designated country may also be granted TPS.

The Secretary may designate a country for TPS due to the following temporary conditions in the country:

• Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war)
• An environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic
• Other extraordinary and temporary conditions

During a designated period, individuals who are TPS beneficiaries or who are found preliminarily eligible for TPS upon initial review of their cases (prima facie eligible):

• Are not removable from the United States
• Can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD)
• May be granted travel authorization”

For those who have their TPS status revoked, the termination of protection ends 60 days after the order is finalized. That gives them only 60 days to either 1) get their things together and return home or 2) apply for a Green Card or other legal method to stay

Could you get your entire life packed up, sell your house or sublet your rental, find a place to live, a place for your kids to go to school, etc, in 60 days? That’s realistically what these immigrants are expected to do.

In summation, outside of the usual work, school or family-sponsored visa processes that I’m not covering in the post, you can come here as a Refugee or Asylum seeker without the need for a visa. You may qualify for special consideration if you came here as a child under DACA. Depending on where you come from, you may qualify for TPS, allowing you to stay without the fear of deportation for the duration of the TPS status.

Naturalization Eligibility (Getting a Green Card)

For those who are here legally as immigrants, the path forward to become a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) is to apply for a Green Card. There are a TON of different pathways for eligibility, but I think there are a few that are most relevant to the issues we are seeing with ICE deportation today.

The first being a family member of a Lawful Permanent Resident. If you are the spouse, or child under 21 of an LPR, you may apply for a Green Card (GC).

Second, if you are a Refugee or Asylee that has been here for 1+ years.

Note, this means you are eligible to apply for a Green Card, not that you’ll be granted one. The fee for application is $760, unless your household makes less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, in which case you pay a reduced fee of $380.

So, that Green Card will let you stay here for a period of two years. In two years, you’ll need to re-up, file, and pay the fee again.

After 5 years of being a lawful GC holder, you may apply for Citizenship through the 10-Step Naturalization Process, provided you are 18 years or older, can speak, understand and write basic English, and are of good moral character. The last two are subjective, which is problematic. Other eligibility criteria are if you’re married to a US Citizen and have been a LPR for 3 years, you’re the child of a U.S. Citizen, or you joined the U.S. Military.

On it’s face, this doesn’t look like a tough process. Let’s talk about the problems with it! The processing time for a Green Card is up to 90 days, and the time to become a U.S. citizen for LPR’s takes an additional 12-18 months. On top of the GC application fee, Marble Law estimates an additional $800-$4000 to complete all Citizenship requirements.

Remember when I mentioned that TPS status individuals get 60 days to GTFO if their status is revoked? If they apply and pay the fee for their GC THE DAY their status is revoked, there’s a damn good chance they won’t receive their Green Card before they’re shit out of luck. It’s my guess that the sudden influx of Refugees and Asylees applying for their cards is going to slow things down, so I’d bet they’d be looking at close to the 90-day mark. I could find no evidence of protections offered to Green Card applicants during the time between their application and receiving the card.

Legal Deportation

So what about people who are here outside of legal means? The US is the land of opportunity for a reason. Sharing a border with Mexico inevitably leads to individuals and families crossing over to stay without doing the paperwork. What are the options for them?

Let’s start with a disclaimer: I think all immigrants should cross the border to stay in the US legally, but the human side of me knows this isn’t an option in all cases. Many families live in poverty, in areas where there simply aren’t opportunities to better their lives. They may not be persecuted because of race, religion, etc, but they are suffering and struggling to make it. They see the US as a chance to make a better life for themselves, so they break the rules and cross over. Now what?

According to USA.gov:

“The U.S. may detain and deport noncitizens who:

• Violate their visa
• Participate in criminal acts
• Are a threat to public safety”

When it comes to prioritizing deportations, each administration has a right to do it a little different. Here’s a summary from LEITF on Trump’s stance:

“In effect, the Trump administration indicated that anyone who was deportable or
inadmissible was a priority for removal. The Trump guidance not only directed the
prioritization for the arrest and deportation of any undocumented immigrant who had been convicted or even charged with a criminal offense – it also prioritized those merely deemed to ‘have committed acts which constitute a chargeable criminal offense.’ In addition, the guidance included a broad, ill-defined catch-all category for those who ‘in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security.’ These broad categories could be extended to cover those with minor offenses like speeding, or those who committed immigration offenses, like unlawful entry, even if they never were charged with those offenses.“

There’s a lot of opinion and conjecture on these points. Here’s where I stand: recent border crossers who have yet to settle should be immediately removed, with paperwork filed, but allowed to still apply for lawful entry. Undocumented inividuals from the U.S. interior who have settled, are working, buying groceries and have kids in school should be offered the chance to begin the Naturalization process. Sure, they came here on less than legal grounds, but they are contributing to and participating in society. They’re paying taxes, filling high-need jobs, and generally are doing what society expects us all to do. Why would we remove, without consideration, these families? If they’re violent criminals, yeet ’em. If they’re my awesome neighbor who works 9-5 in Construction and has two brilliant kids, let them stay. They’re integrated – they belong. Their worst affront to society is making baller food and playing Mariachi music on Sundays.

Anyway, back on subject. To be LEGALLY deported, a LEGAL deportation order must exist. Detaining an individual suspected of violating immigration law is legal, but the individual must be seen in Court and have the chance to plea for a stay. If the judge doesn’t grant it, a deportation order is filed and ICE can remove you.

Trump says he’s after the worst of the worst, but the fact is his ICE thugs are detaining anyone with brown skin and an accent, holding them as long as legally possible, and deporting them regardless of status or societal contributions. From the outside, this looks more like an ethnic cleansing than “cleaning up the streets”. It’s all a matter of opinion, though.

Thanks for reading, hopefully you’re learned a little or a lot!